Cavaliers Pull Off Late Game Comeback, Move On In Regionals

The Woodson Cavaliers scored eight unanswered runs in their last three innings to pull off a late game comeback and defeat the James Madison Warhawks 9-4 in the opening round of the Northern Region tournament.

Naomi Kennedy recorded a total of five strikeouts in the game and held the Warhawks hitless in the top of the sixth inning to help secure the victory.

“We just kept battling,” said Cavaliers’ head coach Bob Coleman after the game. “This group doesn’t quit, they kept battling, we were getting the bat on the ball the whole game against her the whole game, so when they started dropping we were able to have a little success against her late.”

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning, senior catcher Shannon McCloud stepped up to the plate and hit an RBI double up the right center gap to tie the game at 4-4.

The Cavs took a 6-4 lead heading into the sixth inning, and McCloud again came through with another RBI to make it 7-4.  She finished with a total of three RBIs in the game.

Sophomore outfielder Sara Hartman also had three RBIs and senior outfielder Kerchina Johnson recorded the lone homerun in the game.

Madison took a 4-1 lead early in the game, but their young squad which features a total of five freshman seemed rattled by the late game momentum swing by the Cavaliers and were unable to get hits off late against Kennedy.

“They have a great team, and we were very fortunate to get through that,” said Coleman referring to his team’s late game comeback.

The victory places the Cavaliers in a second round matchup with the Westfield Bulldogs on Memorial Day at 1 p.m.

“That will be a really tough game, but this time of year they’re all tough,” said Coleman. “It will be another big challenge for us, Westfield is a tough team.”